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Shipping
vehicles stateside
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Updated 17 March 2012
Vehicle shippers must clean their cars, vans or motorcycles from top to bottom, inside and out, before sending them stateside. Dirt and mud are strictly banned from objects to be shipped to the United States because soil-borne pests and diseases can do great harm to U.S. agriculture.
Dirt accumulates in many parts of a vehicle, so ensure yours is clean before the inspectors check it. The car body, engine compartment, trunk, wheel wells, bumpers and undercarriage must also be free of soil, dirt and vegetable matter. The contractor shipping vehicles under government contract will clean the undercarriage for you.
Inspectors also check for snails (especially in Turkey, Spain and Italy) and gypsy moth eggs (especially in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg) that look like velvety buff or yellowish oval masses about 1½ inches long and ¾ inches wide. Pay special attention to mats and the spaces under seats when cleaning the vehicle interior. The inside must also be free of mud, soil, food scraps and vegetable matter.
Links to help you ship a vehicle stateside.
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Hints on shipping vehicles to the United States from the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. |
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| Car conversions | Americans in Europe must beware of foreign car dealers who claim they can convert cars to U.S. standards. More from our news release. | |||
| Safety conversions | The Department of Transportation offers pages on: the current list of DOT licensed companies who can convert foreign vehicles to U.S. safety specifications, importing Canadian-spec vehicles, the eligibility list of vehicles that can be converted to U.S. specs and the forms for declaring the vehicle's status and posting a bond. NOTE: the list of Registered Importers for "gray market" cars is at the end of the "Importation Guidelines (Non-Canadian)" page. The other list includes all the other companies that only convert cars from Canada. | |||
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Vehicle importation information from the Environmetal Protection Agency includes a "What's New?" section, The Automotive Imports Facts Manual, Quick Overview, Approved Canadian Vehicles, Independent Commercial Importer List and the EPA 3520-1 Declaration Form. |
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This page has links to all the state DMVs in the USA. Use these to find out about stateside license requirements and the state sales tax you will probably have to pay when you license your vehicle stateside. |
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EPA emission regulations cover off-road vehicles such as snowmobiles, dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles as well as nonroad engines for machines such as lawn mowers, generators, aircraft and boat engines. Find out more with this link. |
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U.S. Code, Title 49, Chapter 301, Prohibitions on manufacturing, selling, and importing noncomplying motor vehicles and equipment. Read the law itself on importing noncomplying vehicles. |
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Information on Vehicle Processing Centers, the "Shipping Your POV" pamphlet (PDF format) and the POV tracking system courtesy of the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command. |
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